New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd resembled nothing so much as a white knight ranged on his charger against the dark forces of global climate change as he assumed office. He had campaigned for a world-leading role in the battle to save the world and had appeared to have received a resounding mandate.
New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd resembled nothing so much as a white knight ranged on his charger against the dark forces of global climate change as he assumed office.
He had campaigned for a world-leading role in the battle to save the world and had appeared to have received a resounding mandate.
No sooner had the votes been counted than had he ratified the Kyoto Protocol and was off to play a starring role at a world climate conference in Bali.
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Environmental activists had every right to feel encouraged, to see some light at the end of a long and forboding tunnel previously blacked out by the unresponsive John Howard.
And, more recently, they would have had the inauguration of the green-tinged President-elect Barack Obama of the United States to look forward to as well.
Now, many of those same, perhaps overly optimistic, environmentalists are feeling aggrieved.
What a difference a year - and the small matter of a global recession - makes.
Last Monday, Mr Rudd announced his country's carbon emission targets.
He ruled out deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions until at least 2020, instead promising a unilateral 5% cut on 2000 levels by 2020 if the world could not strike a collective deal.
If it could, he projected a possible 15% reduction in concert with other countries.
Article Continues:Â http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/37129/rudd039s-climate-call
